Food holders have been suggested in the past which can be constructed from a paperboard blank, including, e.g. cardboard, which has been cut and scored to define various panels. A pita bread sandwich holder is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,950 to Levick. The cut-and-scored blank of Levick can be assembled in alternative orientations. Certain outer panels serve in one orientation as supports for the main food pocket, and in another orientation as a cover for the pocket.
In my U.S. Pat. No. Des. 343,764, which issued on Feb. 1, 1994, I disclosed a pita sandwich holder having a generally hexagonal food pocket (viewed from the side, as in FIG. 2 of the patent) which could be formed using suitable adhesive or other joining means from a unitary cut-and-scored paperboard blank.
The long-sustained popularity of hand-held food items in general, and the growing popularity of pita bread type sandwiches in particular, has created a need for food holders having increased functionality, especially convenience features. A food holder is needed which can be held in the hand, and which also supports itself at an inclined angle on a tabletop or other horizontal surface, to reduce or eliminate spillage of food from the food holder when it is placed down by the consumer. In addition, a need exists for a hand held food holder which can be readily modified by hand to a smaller size, either to fit a smaller food item or for adjustment by the consumer as a food item is consumed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a paperboard blank which can be assembled into a food holder having good functionality, including self-support means and size adjustment means. These and other features and advantages of the invention will be understood from the following disclosure of the invention and detailed description of certain preferred embodiments.